Women must enter armed forces, only pace of change is debatable: Army Commander

All three services of the Indian Armed Forces are taking positive steps in the direction of opening up the services for women and concerted efforts are being made to induct them not just in the officer cadre but also in the rank and file, Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, said today.

Speaking on the concluding day of Abhivyakti- 2024, a three-day literary festival organised by the Army Wives Welfare Association at Chandimandir, in response to comments that women in the armed forces should be given equal opportunities, including entry into combat arms like the Infantry and Armoured Corps, Lt Gen Katiyar said the only question now was whether the pace of the progress was fast enough.

“A lot of people may not be happy with the pace, but let me assure you that definite progress is being made and any step that is taken in haste may be counter-productive at a later stage,” he said. The pace of progress may be debatable but a far as national interest security is concerned there are “cool heads” and “very knowledgeable people” who are taking decisions, he added.

The Army opened its doors to women officers in 1992, allowing them short service commission in non-combat arms and services. The first batch of 25 women officers was commissioned in 1993. In 2015, a Supreme Court verdict introduced permanent commission for women officers. In 2019, the Army approved an annual recruitment of 100 women into its rank and file. Last year, the first batch of women soldiers was recruited under the Agnipath scheme and at present are allowed only in the Corps of Military Police.

In an earlier session during the literary festival, former ambassador to the US and Israel Navtej Sarna shared his thoughts on different dimensions of creative writing with reference to his own historical works, especially those relating to Jallianwala Bagh and the unfortunate life of Duleep Singh. Sarna said he visited every city to which Duleep Singh had travelled when he was researching the book, including London, Paris and Russia, so as to get a first-hand feel of the historical narrative that he was going to pen down.

In her concluding address, Jyoti Malhotra, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune, urged participants to develop the element of curiosity in themselves so that they are able to do things differently.